Torbogdan

I noticed that I had not properly finished the upper wing. Or more to the point, I had not done the wire and pulley system as I did not find how to do it in the instructions.
 
Fortunately I bought the book "Fokker Dr I, The Aces´Aircraft" by Kowalski and Rýs. A great book! Many thanks to the people who made me aware of the book. 
 
The last picture is taken from that book. There I found out how the system was too look. And finally I knew what to use the small discs/wheels that were included in the kit for. There is instructions on how to build the wing and how to run the cables correctly but not how to build the pulleys themselves. Or at least I cannot find it.
 
Anyway. Since this update I´ve attached the wheels into the metal holders on the wings themselves. I used flathead pins/nails to keep the wheel in place. Also on the outer pulleys there are two wheels there are two wires, one to raise the aileron and one to lower it. To get some space between the two wheels I used left over parts from the fuselage. I took the "Roman Screw" that were for the wiring in the fuselage and used only the "ring part". One wheel, a ring and the other wheel like a sandwich so to speak. This way the wheels are separated in height from each other. It was quite fiddely but I got it in the end.
 
In the first picture you can see one of the "Roman Screws" and above it one of the rings I cut loose from it. 
 
Next update will show some pictures of the result.

I noticed that I had not properly finished the upper wing. Or more to the point, I had not done the wire and pulley system as I did not find how to do it in the instructions.
 
Fortunately I bought the book "Fokker Dr I, The Aces´Aircraft" by Kowalski and Rýs. A great book! Many thanks to the people who made me aware of the book. 
 
The last picture is taken from that book. There I found out how the system was too look. And finally I knew what to use the small discs/wheels that were included in the kit for. There is instructions on how to build the wing and how to run the cables correctly but not how to build the pulleys themselves. Or at least I cannot find it.
 
Anyway. Since this update I´ve attached the wheels into the metal holders on the wings themselves. I used flathead pins/nails to keep the wheel in place. Also on the outer pulleys there are two wheels there are two wires, one to raise the aileron and one to lower it. To get some space between the two wheels I used left over parts from the fuselage. I took the "Roman Screw" that were for the wiring in the fuselage and used only the "ring part". One wheel, a ring and the other wheel like a sandwich so to speak. This way the wheels are separated in height from each other. It was quite fiddely but I got it in the end.
 
In the first picture you can see one of the "Roman Screws" and above it one of the rings I cut loose from it. 
 
Next update will show some pictures of the result.

I noticed that I had not properly finished the upper wing. Or more to the point, I had not done the wire and pulley system as I did not find how to do it in the instructions.
 
Fortunately I bought the book "Fokker Dr I, The Aces´Aircraft" by Kowalski and Rýs. A great book! Many thanks to the people who made me aware of the book. 
 
The last picture is taken from that book. There I found out how the system was too look. And finally I knew what to use the small discs/wheels that were included in the kit for. There is instructions on how to build the wing and how to run the cables correctly but not how to build the pulleys themselves. Or at least I cannot find it.
 
Anyway. Since this update I´ve attached the wheels into the metal holders on the wings themselves. I used flathead pins/nails to keep the wheel in place. Also on the outer pulleys there are two wheels there are two wires, one to raise the aileron and one to lower it. To get some space between the two wheels I used left over parts from the fuselage. I took the "Roman Screw" that were for the wiring in the fuselage and used only the "ring part". One wheel, a ring and the other wheel like a sandwich so to speak. This way the wheels are separated in height from each other. It was quite fiddely but I got it in the end.
 
In the first picture you can see one of the "Roman Screws" and above it one of the rings I cut loose from it. 
 
Next update will show some pictures of the result.

The only reason for a fighter to exist is to shoot down enemy aircraft. So now finally it is a fighter! To quote the man himself: "Find the enemy and shoot him down, anything else is nonsense".
 
So the MG:s are installed. The fit was ok but they do not line up perfectly with either the ammo chutes or the spent cartridge collectors. I will either have to bend these parts a bit or add some small parts in-between the chutes and MG:s.
 
In this picture the engine cowling is installed but I just jury fit it. I have not decided if I should have on, in which case it will cover most of the engine or leave it off so to show off the work on the engine. Also I don´t know if I should paint it red. I like the look of the aluminum and it might be a bit difficult to get it covered with a nice even coat of red but red would certainly also look very very nice... Tough choices

Doing some work on the cockpit area. I´ve also sprayed the struts for the upper wing. But the paint "ran" so I had to soak them in solvent to clean it off and spray them again. 

With the stays done...

The yard...

This jigsaw puzzle will keep me busy for a while. 
 
Robin 

Doing some work on the cockpit area. I´ve also sprayed the struts for the upper wing. But the paint "ran" so I had to soak them in solvent to clean it off and spray them again. 

Doing some work on the cockpit area. I´ve also sprayed the struts for the upper wing. But the paint "ran" so I had to soak them in solvent to clean it off and spray them again. 

Doing some work on the cockpit area. I´ve also sprayed the struts for the upper wing. But the paint "ran" so I had to soak them in solvent to clean it off and spray them again. 

The only reason for a fighter to exist is to shoot down enemy aircraft. So now finally it is a fighter! To quote the man himself: "Find the enemy and shoot him down, anything else is nonsense".
 
So the MG:s are installed. The fit was ok but they do not line up perfectly with either the ammo chutes or the spent cartridge collectors. I will either have to bend these parts a bit or add some small parts in-between the chutes and MG:s.
 
In this picture the engine cowling is installed but I just jury fit it. I have not decided if I should have on, in which case it will cover most of the engine or leave it off so to show off the work on the engine. Also I don´t know if I should paint it red. I like the look of the aluminum and it might be a bit difficult to get it covered with a nice even coat of red but red would certainly also look very very nice... Tough choices

Some pictures finally! They are not that good but ok. I took them fairly quick just to get some pictures up.
 
Some more vacation coming up so no time to build or update for a few weeks. But these are hopefully better than nothing.
 
So whats left? Well attaching the upper wing, attaching the landing gear (which is causing some trouble as the space between the wings and the body is too tight for the landing gear struts to fit. Will have to do some thinking there. I got a nice tight fit between the lower wing and body only to find out that it is too tight for the landing gear...)
 
Then there is some covers over the "engine compartment" and attaching the wires for the ailerons. Oh, must not forget the raison etre for a fighter, getting the Spandaus in place!
 
Then it should, more or less, be finished. So maybe some time in October
 

The only reason for a fighter to exist is to shoot down enemy aircraft. So now finally it is a fighter! To quote the man himself: "Find the enemy and shoot him down, anything else is nonsense".
 
So the MG:s are installed. The fit was ok but they do not line up perfectly with either the ammo chutes or the spent cartridge collectors. I will either have to bend these parts a bit or add some small parts in-between the chutes and MG:s.
 
In this picture the engine cowling is installed but I just jury fit it. I have not decided if I should have on, in which case it will cover most of the engine or leave it off so to show off the work on the engine. Also I don´t know if I should paint it red. I like the look of the aluminum and it might be a bit difficult to get it covered with a nice even coat of red but red would certainly also look very very nice... Tough choices

Thanks Martyn!
@Messis...yes I do, it's the trieres ram found in the Mediterranean Sea near Israel.
 
The ladder..
A Greek bireme without a ladder is like a Swiss cow without a cow bell.

1x2mm basswood and thinned down cocktail sticks.

Ladder was used when the ship was beached. 

Attached to the railing when sailing.
 
Steering oars are next.
 
Robin 
 

And...the template was a bad idea after all, because the root of the ram need to follow the shape of the bow. Forgot about that.
 
So, a different approach...

An oversized sheet of copper and shape it to match the bow...one side at the time.
Glued in place...when the glue is set, I'll cut off the excess material and do the other side.

This will take several hours, so I have the evening off. 
 
So far so good...and by the way... since the copper is so easy to bend and shape (0,15 mm thick), I'll make a new...wider...strip that goes over top and fold the edges after all.
 
Robin 

Absolutely beautiful! Great build and very well executed! I´m impressed

I agree, leave it. It is noticeable to you and to us as you have pointed it out. But if one does not know one will not see it. So don´t worry, very few will notice.

I agree, leave it. It is noticeable to you and to us as you have pointed it out. But if one does not know one will not see it. So don´t worry, very few will notice.

Thanks John and Danny, and also to all of the "likes".
 
Not a lot of progress on the "mousetrap" this weekend as I spent most of the weekend making a Router Table and Holding Jig for my mill.
 
However, some progress is better than no progress....
 
The installation of the harnesses commences with making the two rear wing attachment posts. These are fairly straight forward, and once again I replaced the kit provided parts with scratch-made parts from cherry. The lower back belt is then made from strips of leather and a small ‘key ring’ (for want of a better term) as the buckle. The leather straps are glued to the base of the rear wing attachment posts and then wrapped with thread.
 

 
The shoulder harness is made in much the same way, although slightly more complex. It is fixed to the base of the neck ring, again wrapped in thread, and also the sides of the fuselage, where the straps are only glued in place.
 

 
 
 
Here is an overview of progress to date:
 

 
I have commenced work on the fuselage cross-bar, but will hold off on pictures until that section is complete. Suffice to say that my mill holding jig that I made this weekend worked a treat.

Thanks Steven, Nils, Sam, Ken, Richard and Carl for your interest, and also to the "likes" for looking in.
 
Fuselage Construction
 
Construction begins with the Fuselage. Here is a picture from the Instruction Manual of the overall completed assembly:
 

 
My first task was to cut a new piece for the fuselage base, replacing the kit-provided wood with Cherry of the same thickness (3/16”). Prior to cutting to shape, I laid out all the markings per the instructions and drilled the holes (4 x 2mm and 6 x 1mm diameter). I finished the surface with two coats of shellac and a coat of furniture wax. This is something I’ve picked up recently from doing some 1:1 scale woodwork. The advantage of shellac is that it dries very quickly, is dead easy to apply, and provides a repairable finish. It also highlights the natural beauty of the timber. Here are the prepared base and the kit provided part side by side.
 

 
Next up was making some cleats. The kit provides some stock wood cut roughly to shape and then instructs you to finish the shaping with files and stain them walnut. I replaced these with straight walnut, which again got the shellac/wax treatment after final shaping. Here’s a shot showing the raw kit parts and my finished parts:
 

 
The next step was to fit one cleat, four cable guides, two pulleys and the crankshaft. The cable guides are simply cotter pins, cut off so as not to protrude through the base to the other side. The pulleys are small brass parts that are secured with a small brass nail, again cut to length. The crankshaft is made from a piece of piano wire that is first bent to shape following a template in the instruction book. Four beads are glued in place on the crankshaft as seen in the pictures below. A small recess was filed into the fuselage base to allow the beads to seat and the crankshaft to sit flush against the fuselage. The two clamps holding the crankshaft in place were again replacement parts made from cherry, using the kit parts as templates for sizing.
 

 
Here’s another view using a different background:
 

 
Forming the Neck Ring is the next step. The kit provides some cherry veneer to this, which it then tells you to stain walnut. I used walnut instead. Two pieces of 1/64” thick by ¼” wide walnut strip are laminated by bending around a former cut from a scrap piece of 1/2" plywood, using a template provided in the kit. I wet these and then hit them with a heat gun to set some initial curve in them. Then I applied some PVA and re-clamped to the former and left them to set.
 

 
 
Next up is the Fulcrum Mount. Again, simply made from Cherry using the kit part as a template. The bottom edge is filed to a curve to match the Neck Ring. A large cotter pin is then then inserted in the centre of the top edge, and finally the cotter pin is wrapped in thread.
 

 

 
That’s as far I have progressed to date.

This kit was a Christmas present from my wife in 2013. It has sat in the “stash” since then, calling to me occasionally. I originally came across this on the previous MSW site. We had recently returned from a European holiday where Da Vinci’s art had featured quite strongly, so naturally I was drawn to this kit.
 
The kit is produced by The Imagination Factory, but a recent check of their website (www.davincistore.com) site suggests that the kit is either temporarily or permanently unavailable. The kit was designed by artist Robert Coyle, based on his extensive research of Da Vinci’s drawings.
What’s in the box?
 
The kit box is quite large, but there is a lot a free space inside. It seems that the box length was determined by the lithograph wing plan, which is both required for building, and a lovely piece of art in its own right. So the main box contained the lithograph, some tulle-type of fabric (for the wings), a couple of longer dowels (also part of the wings), the display base (in two parts), the instruction manual and a much smaller box containing the majority of the kit parts.
 

 
Opening the smaller box, we find most of the parts ‘carded’ with a small drawing to help identify part numbers. I immediately re-packaged all of the small parts into labelled zip-lock bags. The wood appears to be mainly bass wood, and although it appears to be reasonable quality, I had made up my mind that I would replace all of the kit-provided wood with a mixture of Boxwood, Cherry, and Walnut, all of which I ordered from Jeff Hayes at Hobbymill before he closed the business. The plan is to use the pre-cut parts as templates to make my own from the new wood.
 

The instruction manual is interesting in that all of the drawings look like they are hand-drawn. It really adds a very nice artistic flair to the entire kit. Here’s a couple of pictures from the manual:
 

 

 
That’s about as far as I got today. Building will commence in earnest shortly, so stay tuned….
 
 

Absolutely beautiful! Great build and very well executed! I´m impressed

Absolutely beautiful! Great build and very well executed! I´m impressed

Attaching the rudder and horizontal stabilizer is one thing.... getting all the control cables from the cockpit to the empennage is a whole other story! My goodness, this was a taxing effort, but well worth the patience. Using a pair of tweezers, toothpicks with cyanoacrylate glue and a ton of time, I have the rudder pedals moving the rudder and the control stick moving the elevators, and all in the proper directions! Phew.  I have provided a closeup image of the fuselage which shows the control cables running back to the control surfaces. I also could not resist an image of the engine in place.... just to see what it's going to look like in the end. 
 
Having finished the empennage, it was then time to work on the lower wing and undercarriage assembly. This was straightforward enough. The wing actually needed little adjustment to be level and square to the fuselage.... I was happy with that! The undercarriage frame and axle are in place. I am beginning work on the cabane struts for the upper wing. The wheels are also being painted a nice OD green... ready for their day in the light. 
 
~john
 
 

Finished stringers on the fuselage. I learned, again, and again, to read the instructions before diving into things, having glued some cables into place only to find out that the glue clogged holes I needed for future cabling down the road. D'Oh! .. and finished the fuselage for now.  With wings and empennage completed, it is time to assemble all the parts together with control cabling..... 
~john
 

Oil tank, ammunition cans and instrument panel in place along with the rear gun mounts. Now working on the frame stringers along the fuselage.
~john